The fourth flood crest on the Weihe River had flowed into the Yellow River by Monday afternoon, easing the threat to Weinan City and Huayin City.

The water level in the Huaxian County section of Weihe River dropped gradually after the peak passed, which eased the threat to the Weihe Dyke.

The water flow has fallen to 1,670 cubic meters per second from3,400 cubic meters per second monitored by the hydrology station on the river on Sunday night.

However, the level of the Weihe River will stay high till Tuesday as the crest is moving very slowly. Relief teams and troops will remain stationed on the embankments in case of more breaches, said the local flood control office.

Continuous rain has caused severe flooding in over 50 rivers in Shaanxi Province since Aug. 24, affecting more than 1 million people and nearly 46,700 hectares of cropland and causing direct economic losses of two billion yuan (US$241 million), said the provincial flood control headquarters.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2003)